


Home Alone

by NerdsbianHokie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Baby Alex, Gen, neglectful parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28535862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdsbianHokie/pseuds/NerdsbianHokie
Summary: Eliza comes home early to a shocking surprise
Comments: 7
Kudos: 86





	Home Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I got an ask on tumblr about how Jeremiah might not actually be the best parent once you look past Alex's unreliable narrative, which led to me giving all of those thoughts to a friend, which led to me thinking of this and writing it down and now i'm posting it cause why not?

The garage door opened, revealing the empty garage. Eliza didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t odd for Jeremiah to take Alex out on his days off. They often didn’t get back until after she usually got home, so leaving work early meant she would have the house to herself for a few hours.

She parked in her spot and made her way inside.

The house wasn’t as quiet as she expected it to be. The sound of a TV left on led her to the den.

And

“Alex?”

Alex twisted to look up at her. Cookie crumbs clung to the edges of her mouth, which also had a slight purple tinge to it from the grape juice sitting nearby.

“Where’s your dad, sweetie?” Eliza asked.

Alex shrugged, her eyes wide.

“Is he in his office?”

Alex shrugged again.

“Okay. I’m going to go find your dad.”

Ask him where his car was. Ask him why Alex was surrounded by what looked like every piece of junk food they had in the house.

She turned to leave.

“No!” Alex protested.

Eliza turned back, an eyebrow raised. “No?”

Alex looked like she was about to cry.

Eliza sat next to her, mirroring her cross legged position.

“Alex?”

Alex shook her head. She looked down at her lap, her hands worrying at her sleeves.

“Alex, sweetie, you aren’t in trouble.”

Alex mumbled something.

“Can you say that again?”

“I’m not supposda tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

Alex shook her head.

“You aren’t going to get in trouble for telling me.”

Jeremiah might, for both whatever Alex didn’t want to tell her and for asking Alex to keep secrets from her.

“Daddy’s not home.”

Eliza’s blood chilled. Alex - her baby - her five year old daughter - had been home alone for who knows how long?

“He said I’m ‘mature for my age’,” Alex continued, clearly copying exactly what Jeremiah had said. “And he said I’m good and I can be alone but that I can’t tell you and he always gets me ice cream after.”

Eliza schooled her face. How many times had it happened before?

“Can you look at me, sweetie?”

Alex looked up. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.

“You are a very good girl,” Eliza said. “But that doesn’t mean you should be home alone.”

“I can do it.”

“But you shouldn’t. It isn’t safe for you to be home alone.”

“Why?”

Damnit, Jeremiah.

“Because, you may be very good and very smart, but you’re still only five years old, which means you need an adult at home with you.”

“Why?”

Eliza thought for a moment. “Do you remember when we talked about what you should do if there’s a fire?”

Alex nodded. “I go outside and find an adult.”

“Can you think of what might happen if there isn’t an adult home?”

Alex’s face screwed up in thought. “Then I can’t find an adult.”

“Which isn’t safe.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay. I’m going to talk to your father about it, but if he leaves you here again, do you remember how to call me at work?”

Alex nodded.

Eliza brushed some of Alex’s hair back. “How about I take you out for dinner?”

“I’m not in trouble?”

Eliza pulled Alex into her lap and hugged her. “You aren’t in trouble, I promise.”

“Can we get pizza?”

“Yeah, baby, we can get pizza.”

-o-

Eliza watched Alex for a few moments before closing the bedroom door. She took a deep breath to center herself before turning.

Jeremiah was in his office. He glanced up as she entered, but quickly looked back down at his work.

Eliza gave him a short ribs to start talking before she jumped into his silence.

“How long were you gone?”

He sighed and looked up. “Is this really…”

“How long, Jeremiah?”

“It was just a couple of hours. I was on my way back when you called.”

Eliza stared at him. “Just a couple of hours? Just a couple of hours. Yeah, I guess that’s a perfectly okay time to leave our five year old alone at home.”

He rubbed his temple, his pen tucked between two fingers. "Eliza.”

“No, you’re right. She’s perfectly fine. It’s not like she’s able to turn on the stove or decide to go to the water.”

“I told her to stay in the house and only eat what I left out for her.”

“But she’s so fucking ‘mature for her age’, what if she decides she actually can do it? She isn’t a dog you leave a bone out for, she’s a child.  _ Our  _ child. She’s barely not a toddler anymore and you just…”

She shook her head and turned.

The wall she faced has Jeremiah's degrees hanging on it. Below, on a short bookshelf, was a picture of him and an infant Alex.

"Never again," she said.

"Eliza."

She turned back to him. "I swear, Jeremiah. If you do anything like this again…"

She would leave him.

She couldn't say it, but to keep Alex safe, she would.

"Okay," he said. "I won't."

She wanted to believe him.

She really did.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it. I don't really have any plans for more for this, but it was in my head and i wanted to get it out.
> 
> Big thanks to Moose for reading through it for me


End file.
